The old lady had lived in the cottage paying a small rent for a number of years.
It was one in a row of six small buildings and her pension allowed her to live there in reasonable comfort. It was a regular thing that her grandson, a teenager and someone who doted on his granny, called in at least once a week for a visit. He would do shopping for her occasionally, if she didn’t feel up to it. She was always happy to see him and hear how he was getting on with his medical studies. She was so proud of the way he had been willing to give up so many of his evenings to go over his course materials, ready for each coming exam. It was just a day after his last visit that the rent collector had called in on his fortnightly schedule with some disturbing news. He explained that the owner had decided to double the rent!
This came as a terrible shock to the old woman. On the following day, talking with her neighbours, who were likewise given the bad news, she learnt that the owner had been approached by a developer. He had made the owner a handsome offer because he planned to demolish the row to make room for a small shopping centre. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that, like her neighbours, there was no way she could stay there. She began to think about what her future would hold for her.
When her grandson came a couple of days later, she broke down and cried as she gave him the news. He sat expressionless as she told him about the visit and how unexpected it was and how she had spoken to others that were told the same thing and how it had come out that the owner had been made the offer and that the cottages were to be demolished and replaced by shops.
When she had finally finished and had sat dabbing at her eyes with tissues for a while she looked up to see that his stony expression had changed to a gentle smile.
“You obviously haven’t heard then?” He said.
She gathered herself. “What do you mean, dear?”
He went on. “Something about a burglary going wrong. Someone breaking in to the owner’s house. Him being knocked unconscious and having his carotid artery cut and him bleeding to death in only a few seconds.”
“Oh! Good gracious.” She said, really quite shocked. “I didn’t hear about that. When did it happen?”
“Tomorrow night.”